Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

School starting always puts me in the mood for new beginnings! I don't even have any kids living at home IN school this year (our younger daughter IS a junior in college but she lives about two hours away from us) BUT I still find myself somehow inspired to get back with the program! Time to start planning ahead and sticking to a plan. Enough spending money on eating out!

I haven't been very good this summer at making things for breakfast. I ate my first bowl of homemade oatmeal this week. It was so delish! Sure beats all of the donuts (eek!) that I have been stuffing my face with this summer LOL.

This morning I woke up early. Feeling pretty good for a change, I jumped up and put a load of clothes that I had washed late last night into the dryer. (I also haven't been very good at using my clothesline which I dearly love but don't seem to be able to fit into my schedule these days.) Funny how things "come to you" but as I was headed to the laundry room I remembered making pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. Hmmm.... They sounded so good. Typically finding recipes at my house is like finding a needle in a haystack but quickly I laid my hands on this muffin recipe and gave it a try. I've made pumpkin muffins before with a different recipe (which I yet need to lay my hands on) but since this was the first one that I touched in my search through the archive of paper recipes that I continue to accumulate, this is the one I made.

These muffins turned out great! They were quick to stir together and even though I only got up 15 minutes early this morning, I managed to put the clothes in the dryer, mixed up and baked these pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, cleaned up the mess, and even cleaned my bathtub with Borax. Go figure! Some days are just like that, I guess! Lord knows I have enough of the other kind of days when I can't get a single thing done!

Here's how I made Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins AT HOME MY WAY:

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup applesauce (I used a single serve size applesauce)
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour (unbleached is best)
3/4 teaspoon baking POWDER
1/2 teaspoon baking SODA
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (cinnamon would work)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup oil
2 eggs
1/4 cup water
3/4 cup canned pumpkin (1/2 of a 15oz can)
1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used semi sweet) (optional) (raisins would be good also or dried cranberries, nuts, etc.)

Instructions:

PREHEAT THE OVEN TO 350 DEGREES.

Beat the eggs in a mixing bowl (with a fork or whisk).

Using a spoon, add to the bowl the applesauce, sugar, baking POWDER, baking SODA, salt, pumpkin pie spice, oil, water. Now stir in the flour. Then, stir in the pumpkin and after that is stirred in, stir in the chocolate chips.

Place in sprayed muffin tins (or use cupcake papers). They don't rise much so just fill the muffin tins, not quite to the top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until they spring back when touched and are browning a little bit.

Enjoy!

Gina

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